The Hair of the Pig live music series takes flight on Sunday afternoons in the Old Port
In the fall of 2024 I met a guy with a big white beard who gave me a life-changing opportunity. I expected his name to be something like Brother Ezekiel, or Flimdrang the Green. Alas, his name was Chad Walls, of the brainy Maine indie-pop band An Overnight Low. But he asked me to help him run a local music showcase at The Thirsty Pig in Portland’s Old Port. Specifically, he wanted me to book the acts.
I’d never done that before, but was firmly in my “fuck it” phase, so I said yes. Over a year later, what we’ve built has become special to both of us.
We call it Hair of the Pig, because it’s an afternoon show on the second and fourth Sundays of every month (2 to 5 p.m., free for all ages!) where you can nurse your hangover with the nourishing spirit of Maine’s deep and adventurous original music scene. We’ve had singer-songwriters, rappers, performance artists, drag queens, stand-up comics, electronic improvisers, blues guitarists and rock-and-roll bands. Performers aged 12 to 76 have taken the stage in the big front window on Exchange Street. We guarantee you’ll see something new and different every time.
For example, our show on May 10 featured instrumental hip-hop act J-Wizdum, jazz guitar virtuoso Evan Haines, and bombastic Latin/funk sextet xoPlanet. Toward the end, a rainstorm passed and the sun emerged behind xoPlanet, dressed all in white and singing in four-part harmony. It felt like finding religion.
Our success, we suspect, is largely due to our earnest desire to create a community of creatives. We call our artists “piggies” because we want them to know they’re part of something, and that something is weird. Evidence of this weirdness is all over our socials, where self-deprecating comedy bits make it clear we’re not here to judge anyone — we’re too busy mocking ourselves.
And that’s not all! We also have Hair of the Pig Radio, a show that broadcasts over the airwaves in the U.K. and online worldwide. The show gives our piggies an international audience and features an interview segment called “The Hair Chair” involving a chair, wigs and glue. I’m not giving you any more hints than that.
At our Christmas party last year, every artist got a gift bag and, more importantly, the chance to make new musical friends and sing carols with them on stage. (We’d be remiss if we didn’t thank Thirsty Pig owner Allison Stevens for being 100-percent supportive of our insane ideas.)
But hey, why take my word for it? It’s in my vested interest to lie to you! Here’s Jessie Raspbury, certified piggie and vocalist/guitarist of the band Landlines: “Playing Hair of the Pig was the first time I really experienced what having a music community feels like.”
We’re giddy to announce that Hair of the Pig has joined forces with the kindred spirits at The Bollard. We’re working together to grow our piggie community and get them the exposure and love they deserve. You’ll see Chad and me a few times a month in the weekend Bollard Bulletin entertainment listings at bollardhead.substack.com, talking about our upcoming shows, being self-judgmental, and hopefully tempting you to expand your musical horizons while curing your headache with craft beer and house-made sausages.
If you wanna learn more about Hair of the Pig, or just want to see me get a pie in the face, check us out on Instagram @hairofthepig.
